Etherification of bark extracts and condensed tannins

ABSTRACT

Polyphenolic extracts of coniferous tree barks and condensed tannins from wood such as quebracho extracts are etherified by reaction at elevated temperature in the presence of an alkaline catalyst with an olefin containing a double bond-activated carbonyl group having the structure ##EQU1## A particularly effective olefin is acrolein. The reaction products are produced in high yield, are water or alkali soluble and act among other uses as good dispersants.

This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 282,333, filed Aug. 21, 1972, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,845.

The present invention relates to etherified polyphenolic derivatives of coniferous bark extracts and condensed tannin wood extracts and to a process for their preparation.

Bark from coniferous trees is essentially a waste by-product of lumbering and pulping operations. Certain uses have been made of bark but the available supply still far exceeds the demand. New uses and outlets for coniferous bark products are therefore constantly being sought, not only for the economic advantages that would flow from the successful use of a waste product, but also because of the very favorable impact that the conversion of a waste material into a useful product would have on the pollution problem.

The etherification of phenols at elevated temperatures in the presence of alkaline catalysts is known. It is also known that the alkaline extract resulting from the digestion of coniferous bark can be converted into water-soluble derivatives by reaction with a variety of chemical compounds. However, the reactions of the complex polyphenolic extracts from tree barks differ in many important respects from those of phenols and the types and conditions of reaction are quite dissimilar.

It is accordingly a principal object of the present invention to provide a new class of useful compositions from bark extracts and from condensed tannins from wood.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide a new class of water-soluble compositions which form good dispersants and have a number of other potentially valuable uses.

It is still an additional object of this invention to provide a process for readily obtaining high yields of such compositions in a relatively simple, economical process.

It has now been discovered that the polyphenolic extracts of coniferous tree barks and condensed tannin extracts from wood can be converted into water-soluble etherified polyphenolic derivatives by reacting the polyphenolics at an elevated temperature in the presence of an alkaline catalyst with an olefin containing a double bond-activated carbonyl group having the structure ##EQU2## Starting materials are the alkaline or sulfited extracts obtained from coniferous tree bark and condensed tannin extracts obtained from wood and/or barks. The reaction products are water alkali soluble polyphenolic ethers that are useful as dispersants in drilling mud formulations and possess reactive carbonyl groups making them potentially valuable for a number of applications or as intermediates for the production of useful end products.

The bark extract used as a starting material in the process of the present invention may be the alkaline extract obtained by digesting coniferous barks as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,782,241, 2,819,295 or 2,823,223, all assigned to the present assignee. The sulfited or sulfonated extract may be the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,831,022, assigned to the present assignee. The latter patent discloses the digestion of coniferous barks at elevated temperature in the presence of suitable amounts of a salt of sulfurous acid until most of the sulfurous acid salt radical is consumed and then drying the sulfonated bark extract. Preparation of these materials leads principally to the extraction of the polyphenolic flavanoid fractions -- condensed tannin related materials -- from the bark. The condensed tannin extracts useful in the invention are commercially available products such as hot water extracts from quebracho wood.

In the etherification reaction, the bark polyphenolic or condensed tannin reacts with the double bond-activated carbonyl compound at one or more of the active sites. The carbonyl compound will, in general, conform to the following formula ##EQU3## in which R₁ and R₂ are the same or different and are selected from the group consisting of H, 1 to 3 carbon alkyl, ##EQU4## in which M is an alkali metal and R₄ is a 1 to 3 carbon alkyl. R₃ is selected from the group consisting of H, 1 to 3 carbon alkyl, OH, OM or OR₄ where M and R₄ have the meaning given above. An illustrative olefin particularly useful in the invention is acrolein. Other useful olefins are acrylic acid, alpha methyl acrolein, maleic acid and methyl methacrylate. Anhydrides of olefins containing double bond-activated carbonyl groups, such as maleic anhydride, are also useful. In addition, the esters and salts of the foregoing olefins may also be used such as dimethyl and diethyl maleate and disodium maleate.

The process of producing etherified polyphenolics will vary somewhat depending upon the specific olefin and polyphenolic starting materials used and the nature of the product desired. More specifically, the activated olefin and polyphenol in aqueous solution, or solid form, and catalyst, such as NaOH, are reacted together for from about 0.5 to 4.0 hours at a temperature of from about 110° to 260°C preferably from about 150° to 190°C., and corresponding pressures. The alkaline catalyst can be added as such or an alkaline extract can be used which contributes alkalinity. The alkaline catalyst, such as Na or K hydroxide, is added in catalytic amounts - preferably one mole of hydroxide per mole of monomeric unit in the polyphenolic. This will normally be 10% by weight based on the weight of the extract and the pH will normally be from 9 to 10. Upon completion of the reaction, any unreacted reagents are removed from the mixture as by boiling and the product recovered by a convenient method such as freeze drying. The ratio of olefin to polyphenol is not particularly critical, mole:mole ratios of olefin to monomeric unit in the polyphenolic ranging from one to ten having been tested successfully. Little gain in yield or substitution level in most cases is attained, however, by the use of ratios in excess of about 4.0 to 5.0. This was not true in the case of acrolein where the weight of reaction product increased linearly as the amount of acrolein used increased. Other conditions remaining the same, the olefin substitution level will vary, within limits, with the amount added. The type of vegetative polyphenolic extract used also does not appear to be particularly critical. Successful etherification levels have been accomplished on alkaline bark extracts, sulfited bark extracts and on quebracho wood extracts. When using acrolein, yields as high as 90 to 95 percent of theoretical are readily obtained in each case.

The following examples are illustrative of the practice of the invention.

EXAMPLE 1

This example illustrates the reaction of a western hemlock polyphenolic alkaline bark extract with methyl acrylate. The extract was prepared by digesting the tree bark in an alkaline solution and then drying. Methyl acrylate (12 g.) and the extract (15 g.) in water (60 ml.) were transferred to a steel vessel that was sealed and placed in a laboratory oven and heated for 2 hours at 170°C. After cooling, the pH of the solution (5.13) was adjusted to 3.0 (4.5 ml. conc. HCl). The precipitate was removed by filtration and given several rinses (150 ml.) before freeze-drying to yield 9.26 g. of reaction product.

EXAMPLE 2

Reactions between the extract used in Example 1 and acrylic acid were carried out by essentially the same methods as those employed in Example 1. The equivalents per mole of extract were slightly lower and the pH was adjusted to 9 with NaOH prior to reaction. The results of 2 samples each in accordance with Example 1 and 2 are set forth below in Table I and II respectively.

                                      TABLE I                                      __________________________________________________________________________     Oven Reactions of Extract with Methyl Acrylate.sup.a (Example 1)                                              CH.sub.2 =CH--CO.sub.2 H                                                       Incorporation.sup.e, %                                  CH.sub.2 =CH--CO.sub.2 CH.sub.3                                                            Yield Net  As % of   As % of                               Sample                                                                             Temp.   mole/mole                                                                              of ppt.                                                                              CO.sub.2 H.sup.d                                                                    CH.sub.2 =CH--CO.sub.2 CH.sub.3                                                          Theoret.                              No. °C.                                                                         g.  of extract.sup.c                                                                       Wt., %.sup.b                                                                         %    Dosage    Maximum.sup.f                         __________________________________________________________________________     1   170 12  2.93    59.1  3.7  14.7      19.0                                  2   210 12  2.93    57.3  5.7  22.5      12.4                                  TABLE II                                                                       Oven Reactions of Extract with Acrylic Acid.sup.a (Example 2)                                                 CH.sub.2 =CH--CO.sub.2 H                                                       Incorporation.sup.e, %                                  CH.sub.2 =CH--CO.sub.2 H                                                                   Yield Net  As % of   As % of                               Sample                                                                             Temp.   mole/mole                                                                              of ppt.                                                                              CO.sub.2 H.sup.d                                                                    CH.sub.2 = CH--CO.sub.2 H                                                                Theoret.                              No. °C                                                                          g.  of extract.sup.c                                                                       Wt., %.sup.b                                                                         %    Dosage    Maximum.sup.f                         __________________________________________________________________________     1   210 8.4 2.42    53.5  5.7  25.4      19.0                                  2   250 8.4 2.42    56.1  5.5  24.4      18.2                                  __________________________________________________________________________      .sup.a 2 hour reactions using 40 g. of extract.                                .sup.b Based on weight of extract starting material.                           .sup.c Based on Mw of 312/monomeric unit of extract.                           .sup.d Obtained by back titration using 01 NHCl.                               .sup.e Based on carboxyl content as determined by titration.                   .sup.f Four moles per mole of monomeric phonolic unit, theor. maximum          CO.sub.2 H% = 30%                                                        

EXAMPLE 3

This example illustrates a typical autoclave reaction of acrolein with the alkaline bark extract of Example 1. Acrolein (42.6 g.) and the extract of Example 1 (40 g.) in water (400 ml.) were placed in an autoclave and heated with stirring for 2 hours at 170°C. After cooling, the solution was removed and transferred to a beaker where it was boiled for one hour. The solution was freeze-dried to give a nicely lyophilized brown powder, 72.3 g. Other reactions were conducted by the same general procedure, varying acrolein dosage from 14.2 g. to 85.2 g. In a further set of experiments, reaction temperature was 190°C. The results are set forth in the following Table III.

                                      TABLE III                                    __________________________________________________________________________     Autoclave Reactions of Extract with Acrolein.sup.a                                     CH.sub.2 =CH--CHO    CH.sub.3 =CH=CHO                                  Sample                                                                             Temp.   mole/mole        Incorporation.sup.d                               No. °C.                                                                         g.  of extract.sup.b                                                                      g.   Wt. %.sup.c                                                                         %                                                 __________________________________________________________________________     1   170 14.2                                                                               1.98   47.6 119.0                                                                               87.8                                              2   170 28.4                                                                               2.96   63.1 157.8                                                                               92.2                                              3   170 42.6                                                                               4.94   72.3 180.7                                                                               87.5                                              4   170 56.8                                                                               5.92   81.9 204.7                                                                               84.6                                              5   170 71.0                                                                               7.90   94.7 236.8                                                                               85.3                                              6   170 85.2                                                                               9.88   103.2                                                                               258.8                                                                               82.4                                              7   190 14.2                                                                               1.98   47.3 118.2                                                                               87.2                                              8   190 28.4                                                                               2.96   58.7 146.8                                                                               85.8                                              9   190 42.6                                                                               4.94   69.2 173.0                                                                               83.7                                              10  190 71.0                                                                               7.90   84.5 211.0                                                                               76.1                                              __________________________________________________________________________      .sup.a 2 hour reactions.                                                       .sup.b Based on a Mw of 312/monomeric unit assumed for extract.                .sup.c Based on weight of extract (40 g.).                                     .sup.d Based on weight of product compared with total weight of starting       materials.                                                               

EXAMPLE 4

This example illustrates the reaction of a sulfonated extract with acrolein. The extract was prepared by digesting an aqueous solution of coniferous tree bark in a sulfurous acid solution, concentrating and spray drying. The extract (40 g.) in water (400 ml.) was adjusted to pH 9.0 with 50% (w/w) sodium hydroxide solution (1.8 ml.). The solution was placed in an autoclave and acrolein (27 g.) was added. The solution was heated with stirring for 2 hours at 170°C. After cooling, the solution was removed and transferred to a beaker where it was boiled for 1 hour with stirring. The solution was freeze-dried, 62.0 g. The results were as follows:

                  TABLE IV                                                         ______________________________________                                         Autoclave Reactions of Extract with Acrolein.sup.a                             CH.sub.2 =CH--CHO                                                              Sample       mole/mole  Yield     CH=CH--CHO                                   No.   g.     of extract.sup.d                                                                          g.   Wt. %.sup.e                                                                           Incorporation.sup.f                        ______________________________________                                         1.sup.b                                                                              27     3.95       60.0 150.0  89.5                                       2.sup.c                                                                              27     3.95       62.0 154.9  90.7                                       3.sup.c                                                                              54     7.90       84.2 210.8  88.2                                       ______________________________________                                          .sup.a 2 hour reactions at 170° on 40 g. of extract.                    .sup.b No adjustment to pH 9.                                                  .sup.c Samples adjusted to pH 9 before addition of acrolein.                   .sup.d Based on Mw of 326/monomeric unit assumed for extract.                  .sup.e Based on weight of extract (40 g.).                                     .sup.f Based on weight of product compared with total weight of starting       materials (calculations for samples 2 and 3 include 1.36 g. for added          sodium hydroxide).                                                       

EXAMPLE 5

The following example illustrates a typical reaction of an alkaline bark extract with maleic anhydride. The extract of Example 1 (20 g. O.D.) and powdered maleic anhydride (19 g.) were thoroughly mixed and placed in a steel vessel that was sealed and placed in a laboratory oven for 2 hours at 170°C. After cooling, water (250 ml.) was added to the contents of the oven. The mixture was placed in an osterizer for about 1 minute to finely disperse the solid material. The mixture of pH 3.5 was then adjusted to pH 9.0 with sodium hydroxide solution and then boiled, with stirring, for 1 hour. After cooling, the solution was adjusted to pH 3.0. The precipitate that formed was removed by centrifuging, rinsed and freeze-dried, 20.4 g.

Other reactions were all conducted by the same general procedure with varying parameters such as time, temperature and quantity of maleic anhydride, as shown in Table V below. Samples 1 through 9 were all processed without boiling at pH 9 prior to precipitation at pH 3.0. Samples 10 - 15 all included the pH 9 boiling step in their processing.

Three reactions were run simultaneously in a laboratory oven with one of the reactions serving as a control for use as a reference. (This is the reason for the grouping of reactions into sets of three as seen in Table V.)

The carboxyl content was determined by back titration with 0.1 N HCl after addition of 10 ml. of 0.15N NaOH to a sample of the precipitated products. Two replicate determinations were run. The samples obtained were compared with those obtained in titration of the appropriate reference material.

                                      TABLE V                                      __________________________________________________________________________     Oven Reactions of Extract with Maleic Anhydride.sup.a                                     Maleic Anhydride                                                    Sample                                                                             Temp.                                                                              Time    mole/mole                                                                             Yield ppt.                                                                              Net                                            No. °C                                                                          Hr.                                                                               g.   of extract.sup.b                                                                      g.  Wt. %.sup.c                                                                         CO.sub.2 H.sup.d %                             __________________________________________________________________________     1   170 2  6.4  1.02   12.4                                                                               62   0                                              2   170 2  16.0 2.50   16.2                                                                               81   9.0                                            3   170 2  --   --     10.9                                                                               55   Reference                                      4   170 4  6.4  1.02   15.2                                                                               76   2.3                                            5   170 4  16.0 2.50   18.6                                                                               93   6.3                                            6   170 4  --   --     12.8                                                                               64   Reference                                      7   140 4  6.4  1.02   14.7                                                                               74   2.3                                            8   140 4  16.0 2.50   19.1                                                                               97   8.3                                            9   140 4  --   --     10.3                                                                               52   Reference                                      10.sup.e                                                                           170 2  19.0 2.96   20.4                                                                               102  7.4                                            11  170 2  25.0 3.90   27.7                                                                               139  8.5                                            12.sup.f                                                                           170 2  --   --     --  --   Reference                                      13.sup.g                                                                           170 1  40.0 6.25   27.5                                                                               138  5.3                                            14  170 1  60.0 9.40   30.4                                                                               152  0                                              15  170 1  --   --     14.4                                                                               72   Reference                                      __________________________________________________________________________      .sup.a Reactions carried out on 20 g. O.D. extract.                            .sup.b Based on Mw of 312/monomeric unit assumed for extract.                  .sup.c Based on weight extract (20 g.).                                        .sup.d Obtained by back titration using 0.1N HCl.                              .sup.e All samples prepared from 10 through 15 were boiled at pH 9 prior       to the pH 3 precipitation step.                                                .sup.f This reference sample was prepared by boiling Sample 3 in water at      pH 9 for 1 hour and then precipitation at pH 3.                                .sup.g An exothermic reaction occurred during the reaction that caused         reaction to go to 190°. The reaction was stopped after 1 hour for       this reason.                                                             

EXAMPLE 6

The following example illustrates a typical reaction of a sulfonated extract (that of Example 4) with maleic anhydride. The extract (20 g.) and powdered maleic anhydride (19 g.) were thoroughly mixed and added to a steel vessel that was sealed and placed in a laboratory oven for 2 hours at170°C. After cooling, water (250 ml.) was added to the contents of the vessel. The mixture was placed in an osterizer for about one minute to finely disperse the solid material. The mixture of pH 3.3 was then adjusted to pH 3.0. The precipitate that formed was removed by centrifuging, rinsed and freeze-dried to yield 19.8 g.

Other reactions were conducted by the same general procedure with varying parameters such as time, temperature and quantity of maleic anhydride as shown in Table VI below. Samples 1 through 6 were processed without boiling at pH 9 for 1 hour prior to precipitation at pH 3.0. Samples 7 to 12 included a pH 9 boiling step preceding precipitation in their processing.

Three reactions were run simultaneously in the laboratory oven with one of the reactions serving as a control for use as a reference. (This is why the reactions were grouped into sets of three as seen in Table VI.)

The carboxyl content was determined by back titration with 0.1N HCl after addition of an aliquot of base (10 ml. of 0.15NaOH) to a sample of the precipitated products. Two replicate determinations were run. Titration values obtained for the appropriate reference materials were substracted from those obtained on the precipitated fractions to obtain the net carboxyl content recorded in Table VI.

                                      TABLE VI                                     __________________________________________________________________________     Oven Reactions of Extract with Maleic Anhydride.sup.a                                     Maleic Anhydride                                                    Sample                                                                             Temp.                                                                              Time   mole/mole                                                                             Yield of ppt.                                                                           Net                                             No. °C.                                                                         Hour                                                                              g.  of extract.sup.b                                                                      g.  Wt.%.sup.c                                                                          CO.sub.2 H.sup.d %                              __________________________________________________________________________     1   170 2   5.9                                                                               1.10   16.2                                                                               81    7.33                                           2   170 2  14.8                                                                               2.81   19.6                                                                               98   16.23                                           3   170 2  --  --      5.7                                                                               29   Reference                                       4   140 2   5.9                                                                               1.10   12.7                                                                               64    6.71                                           5   140 2  14.8                                                                               2.81    7.8                                                                               39   11.77                                            6.sup.e                                                                           140 2  --  --      0   0   Reference                                        7.sup.f                                                                           170 2  18.0                                                                               3.42   13.8                                                                               69    9.49                                           8   170 2  24.0                                                                               4.56   10.6                                                                               53   12.21                                           9   170 2  --  --      1.9                                                                               10   Reference                                       10  170 2  40.0                                                                               7.60   15.6                                                                               78   Undetermined                                    11  170 2  60.0                                                                               11.40  35.1                                                                               176  "                                               12  170 2  --  --      1.9                                                                               10   "                                               __________________________________________________________________________      .sup.a Reactions carried out on 20 g. extract.                                 .sup.b Based on Mw of 326/monomeric unit assumed for extract.                  .sup.c Based on weight of extract (20 g.).                                     .sup.d Obtained by back titration using 0.1N HCl. To obtain net CO.sub.2       H%, titration values obtained on reference materials were subtracted.          .sup.e No precipitate was obtained from this reaction; a dialyzed              freeze-dried filtrate was used as a reference.                                 .sup.f All samples prepared from Samples 7 through 12 were boiled at pH 9      prior to pH 3 precipitation.                                              

I claim:
 1. Etherified polyphenolic derivatives produced by reacting at a temperature of 110° to 260°C in the presence of an alkaline catalyst a polyphenolic extract selected from the class consisting of bark polyphenolic extracts and condensed tannin wood extracts with (a) an olefin of the formula ##EQU5## in which R₁ and R₂ are the same or different and are selected from the group consisting of H, 1 to 3 carbon alkyl, COOH, COOM, COR₄ and COOR₄ in which M is an alkali metal and R₄ is a 1 to 3 carbon alkyl and R₃ is selected from the group consisting of H, 1 to 3 carbon alkyl, OH, OM and OR₄ or (b) an anhydride of the foregoing olefin; the mole/mole ratios of olefin reactant to monomeric unit in the polyphenolics ranging from about 1:1 to 10:1.
 2. The etherified polyphenolic derivative of claim 1 in which the extract is an alkaline extract of coniferous tree bark.
 3. The etherified polyphenolic derivative of claim 1 in which the extract is a condensed tannin from quebracho wood.
 4. The etherified polyphenolic derivative of claim 2 in which the bark extract is sulfonated.
 5. The etherified polyphenolic derivative of claim 1 in which the olefin is acrolein.
 6. The etherified polyphenolic derivative of claim 1 in which the olefin is methyl acrylate.
 7. The etherfied polyphenolic derivative of claim 1 in which the olefin is acrylic acid.
 8. The etherified polyphenolic derivative of claim 1 in which the olefin is maleic acid.
 9. The etherified polyphenolic derivative of claim 1 in which the olefin is maleic anhydride.
 10. The process of preparing an etherfied polyphenolic derivative comprising reacting at a temperature of 110° to 260°C in the presence of an alkaline catalyst a polyphenolic extract selected from the class consisting of bark polyphenolic extracts and condensed tannin wood extracts with (a) an olefin of the formula ##EQU6## in which R₁ and R₂ are the same or different and are selected from the group consisting of H, 1 to 3 carbon alkyl, COOH, COOM, COR₄ and COOR₄ in which M is an alkali metal and R₄ is a 1 to 3 carbon alkyl and R₃ is selected from the group consisting of H, 1 to 3 carbon alkyl, OH, OM and OR₄ or (b) an anhydride of the foregoing olefin; the mole/mole ratios of olefin reactant to monomeric unit in the polyphenolics ranging from about 1:1 to 10:1.
 11. The process of claim 10 in which the reaction is carried out at for from 0.25 to 4 hours.
 12. The process of claim 10 in which the olefin is acrolein. 